After Chemotherapy

Finishing chemo

feels like stepping

back into a life

I did not know I had left.

I hold the car keys

a little longer than I need to.

The engine turns

and I sit there

listening

as if it were a hymn.

At the grocery store I walk slowly

past rows of ordinary things

bread

milk

fruit

and I feel

a quiet gratitude

for choices

for movement

for being there at all.

I wash my hair

with careful hands

warm water falling

soft and steady.

It feels like grace.

Outside

the breeze rises up to greet me

and birds sing

as if for the very first time.

Sunlight settles on my face

and I do not rush past it.

Even my favorite jeans

feel like a small miracle

familiar

waiting

patient.

And coffee

simple coffee

is rich with something more

warmth

comfort

presence.

I used to move through these things

without giving them their due

now each one

arrives like a gift

small

unassuming

holy

and I wonder

how much of life

is made of this

these unnoticed mercies

these ordinary moments

that hold their breath

until we remember

to be grateful again.